Cleaning devices for paint rollers have been known and used in the past. Disclosures relating to this subject matter include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,075,534, 3,886,960, 4,061,153 and 4,521,255.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,534, a paint roller is mounted in a container for rotation about a vertical axis as water is supplied under pressure from a nozzle with the water being sprayed upon the roller itself to clean the roller. The nozzle is manually reciprocated in a vertical direction to cause water to be sprayed upon successive portions of the paint roller to be cleaned. An end wall has an opening (FIG. 2) for receiving the roller in a soaking mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,960 shows a paint cleaner having a fixed manifold for directing water streams onto a paint roller as the paint roller is reciprocated back and forth through the water streams.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,153 shows a paint roller cleaner with the roller being taken off the handle thereof and inserted between two end bearings in an enclosure. Water is directed into the enclosure and against the roller to be cleaned, causing the roller to rotate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,255 discloses a mat cleaner in which two water jet assemblies are mounted on opposite sides of the mat and the mat is rotated at a sufficient speed to cause particles to leave the mat due to centrifugal force.
While the foregoing patents may be satisfactory in some cleaning operations, they are generally not sufficiently simple in construction and operation to render the cleaning of paint rollers of different diameters efficient and less time consuming. Thus, a need exists for improvements in cleaners for paint rollers which avoid the problems of the prior art. The present invention satisfies this need.